By Our Correspondent<\/p>\n
Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, has revealed that about 5, 297 ghost civil workers and 6,314 ghost pensioners have been uncovered in the onging civil servants verification exercise in the state.<\/p>\n
This revelation was contained in a statement signed by Vice Admiral Ibas\u00a0 on Friday evening\u00a0 and issued by his
\nSenior Special Adviser on Media, Hector Igbikiowubo, declaring that only 37,703 staff were verified in the state civil service, against a previous figure of over 43,000.<\/p>\n
The statement quoted Ibas to have made the revelation when he met with leaders of organised labour and Local Government Administrators at the Government House in Port Harcourt, on Friday.<\/p>\n
The Sole Administrator added that only 19,186 state pensioners were verified, compared to over 25,500, suggesting an excess of 5,297 workers and 6,314 pensioners.<\/p>\n
He further explained that only 2,004 local government pensioners were verified out of over 2,600, adding that only 8,000 local government staff have so far been verified across seven LGAs, including Obio\/Akpor, Bonny, Etche, and Degema.<\/p>\n
He expressed his unwavering commitment to transparency, staff welfare, and the successful conclusion of the ongoing staff verification exercise, emphasising that the timing of the meeting a day before the local government elections was deliberate to underscore the intrinsic link between accountable leadership and effective grassroots governance.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cTomorrow\u2019s (LGA) elections are an important step towards restoring democratic governance at the grassroots. But leaders can only be held accountable when there is clarity on the human and material resources available to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the heart of the discussions was the comprehensive staff verification and biometric enrolment exercise initiated to enhance transparency and efficiency across the state and local government workforce.<\/p>\n
\u201c37,703 state staff verified, against a previous figure of over 43,000, 19,186 state pensioners verified, compared to over 25,500, 2,004 local government pensioners verified out of over 2,600, 8,000 local government staff verified across seven LGAs, including Obio\/Akpor, Bonny, Etche, and Degema.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vice Admiral Ibas (Rtd.) who emphasised the necessity of the process, set September 4, 2025 as deadline for the completion of all local government staff verification, vowing to deploy all necessary state resources to meet this goal.<\/p>\n
Addressing the issues of gratuity and death benefits, Ibas described the current situation as \u201cdeeply regrettable\u201d, revealing that while efforts are ongoing, only arrears for March 2025 have been cleared due to challenges with verified records.<\/p>\n
He issued a stern warning following the discovery of an overpayment of \u20a6117 million in the March schedule, which has prompted an official investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere must be consequences. Such malpractice is a crime against colleagues whose bereaved families are left in pain and penury,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n
On her part, the Acting Head of the Rivers State Civil Service, Dr. (Mrs.) Inyingi Brown, provided a detailed breakdown of the verification numbers, highlighting the extensive support provided to pensioners, including transport allowances, lunch, and remote participation options for those in the diaspora.<\/p>\n
Leaders of the labour unions present unanimously commended the administration for the reforms.<\/p>\n
The State Chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Alex Agwanwu, expressed delight at the gains of the exercise, noting it has \u201cfostered efficiency, transparency, and professionalism.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Christopher Amadi, commended the action of the Sole Administrator and specifically noting that the exercise did not disrupt salary payments.<\/p>\n
Comrade Emecheta Chuku, Chairman of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, admitted to initial worker skepticism but confirmed the exercise was well-executed and aimed at \u201ccleaning up the system by identifying impostors,\u201d ultimately commending both the government and workers for its success.<\/p>\n
Concluding the meeting, Ibas assured workers of his continued collaboration with labour unions and appealed to all Rivers people to conduct themselves peacefully during the August 30 local government elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll necessary arrangements have been made to ensure a safe and peaceful election. Please go out tomorrow and exercise your civic responsibility without fear or intimidation,\u201d he urged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, has revealed that about 5, 297 ghost civil workers and 6,314 ghost pensioners have been uncovered in the onging civil servants verification exercise in the state. This revelation was contained in a statement signed by Vice Admiral Ibas\u00a0 on Friday evening\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2157,4331,1385,4330,1181,2525,3060,1260],"class_list":["post-6784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-consequences","tag-fear","tag-intimidation","tag-malpractice","tag-responsibility","tag-revealed","tag-uncovered","tag-verification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6784"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6787,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6784\/revisions\/6787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}